Kartoonistan Editor Speaks

Clearly the most important collection of paragraphs in the media today is Flemming Rose's piece in the Washington Post. Rose is the culture editor of Jyllands-Posten, the man who commissioned the Kartoonistan cartoons.

There really is no excerpting the piece; every paragraph is essential. Since most reading this have probably already read the piece, I'll pull one section that I thought particularly significant:

Has Jyllands-Posten insulted and disrespected Islam? It certainly didn't intend to. But what does respect mean? When I visit a mosque, I show my respect by taking off my shoes. I follow the customs, just as I do in a church, synagogue or other holy place. But if a believer demands that I, as a nonbeliever, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission. And that is incompatible with a secular democracy.

Ta da.

As a Democracy, we cannot bend our knee to tyranny.

And for those of us who are Christians or Jews, we know that we cannot bend our knee in submission to any other faith.

Related Tags: Kartoonistan, Cartoons, Islam, Jyllands-Posten, Denmark